TORONTO, Ont.– The Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has released its preliminary rates for 2010, giving employers advance notice of what they can expect to be paying in premiums next year. The Ontario Trucking Association said it was a case of good news and bad news for the trucking industry.

The good news, said the OTA, is that the rate for General Trucking (rate group 570) will be unchanged, remaining at its current level of $5.79/$100 of insurable earnings. The bad news is that the Warehousing (rate group 560) and Courier Services (rate group 577) will see increases, with Warehousing increasing by almost 5% from $2.64 to $2.77 and Courier Services by 1.2% from $2.43 to $2.46.

“We were concerned that given the state of the WSIB’s finances and the fact they have been hit hard in their investment portfolio by the recession that we would see significant rate hikes. While we are disappointed that the warehousing and courier rates jumped up we’re obviously pleased that on the whole the Board has been able to keep rates stable. Though warehousing and courier rates still remain relatively low, less than half the trucking rate, we will be looking into the reasons why these rate groups saw increases this year,” said OTA President David Bradley.

“The fact that the WSIB’s unfunded liability continues to grow at an alarming rate means that the pressure for rate hikes has in no way diminished and we will have to fight this battle again and again every year. What’s needed is a long term strategy for managing the WSIB’s funding strategy to provide employers with confidence that rates will remain stable,” added Bradley.